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If the Ben Werthmuller and Matene Ruawai road show keeps on trucking, don't rule out Old Boys-Marist from the Hankins Shield semifinals as they set out to run down Te Kawau.
Te Kawau lead the mid-table logjam in fourth, but have Kia Toa, Feilding Old Boys-Ōroua and OB-Marist nipping at their heels. Winless Freyberg are at the bottom. OBM coach Reece Robinson said after the first round the side talked about goals and wanted to make sure they kept picking up points. “The goal is to get in the top four,” he said. “We ve got a bit of pressure on us now, but if we can play the way we did on Saturday in the weeks ahead, we’ll put ourselves in a good position.” Robinson said his side was keen to fight for fourth spot.
Johnny Galloway passes from the scrum. He had a strong game on his return from injury. They foraged voraciously at breakdowns in the second half even when Varsity commanded most of the ball and ground away with their hefty scrum. Varsity s backline had only wing Korie Winters lively on attack and their defence, badly missing injured midfielder Hamish Northcott, was breached too easily by Turbos Stewart Cruden, James Tofa and Andre Taylor to set up two early tries. COB s only failing was average line kicking. COB coach Bryan Matenga said when he heard there had been a falling out at Feilding, where Taylor had been coaching, he invited him back to his old club, as a player.
Ellis said they needed to be accurate and execute, but knew Yellows, who beat Old Boys-Marist 25-7 last week, would have a point to prove as well. He said it was the first derby game, but he knew they would meet again in the second round later in the season too. “I’ve been in this situation before too, so we’ve got to keep out feet on the ground. It’s a long season and we’re still building and trying to figure out combinations.” He said they were heading in the right direction, but had to play for 80 minutes, not 60, as they did in their 21-17 win over Kia Toa last week.